Almost 3 years ago, I decided to see more of the county where I grew up. My favorite discovery was Wapakoneta, where I admired the well-preserved architecture, visited the Neil Armstrong museum, and explored the awe-inspiring Temple of Tolerance. I’ve been wanting to go back for another visit ever since that day.

When I was home for spring break, I thought it was time to introduce the delights of Wapak to my dad and sister. On a chilly Monday evening, we took off on the half-hour drive and I explained what I remembered about Wapak’s historic downtown and the Temple of Tolerance.

We parked on the street outside of Jim Bowsher’s house, and I led Dad and Maggie up the driveway and into the backyard. Almost immediately, they were stunned. They continued to be surprised as we wove our way through the collection of rocks and other artifacts.

It was a cold day, and the plant life that I remembered from my last visit was almost nonexistent, but I was glad to be back nonetheless. The detail that went into this creation is absolutely incredible.

After seeing everything there was to see and promising each other that we’d come back this summer, Dad thought it would be nice to go for a walk downtown, so we found a place to park by the gorgeous theater, and then we admired the old buildings as the sunset glow shined on them.

As if the evening hadn’t already been full of wonderful sights, we were treated to a beautiful sunset on our drive home. It was good to see that the Midwest is as magical as I remembered.